Halloween 2009

We decided to go more in the Tim Burton direction with the costumes and it was such fun! With all those gathers I really wanted Stella's Alice skirt to "poof", so we busted out her old pettiskirt and it worked perfectly! Maxwell begged for red under eye makeup "like the Tim Burton (aka johnny depp) version", because he informed me the mad hatter is crazy, and he gets tired from "being crazy all the time, plus drinking lots of tea keeps him up at night". He was the cutest mad hatter I've ever seen, and his costume had this weird chivalrous effect on him, and at one point, he carried Alice about 20 yards across a field that had just been hit by sprinklers, as "Alice" was having a breakdown at the thought that her dress might get wet. The moment was short lived and at the last stretch of the field they fell over and landed with a soft thud in a cloud of pale blue cotton, pettiskirt ruffles, gold corduroy, and purple velveteen. I thought Stella's head would explode when she saw the small water spots on her dress, but the mad hatter distracted her with the large stash of loot in her plastic pumpkin and all was well again in wonderland.

Ty went as the Cheshire cat, and I have to say, after all of the challenging toddler moments in the past year, this costume was my secret retribution. Ty loves to run around the house pretending he is "kung fu panda" or the "incwedible huwk", so seeing him meow in pink and purple stripes was quite amusing to us all. Javen, last but not least, was the stealthiest trick or treating ninja I have ever seen, and at few points, he was so into ninja sneakiness, that he stealthily (aka, accidentally) snuck right past the houses we were trick or treating at, forgetting to even stop for candy. :) Overall, the kids had blast, and were over the moon when people would recognize their characters. And might I add, after all my years trick or treating up north in 40 degrees, with wind, rain, sleet, and even snow, the 70 degree trick or treating we experienced here in Arizona was fantastic!!